“He is losing hope,” Fotion told Tafur. “They are jerking him around, telling him they’ll have an answer for him on Monday. And then nothing. It seems unprofessional.”

Therein lies the reason why fans have routinely read Raiders Wire and other media outlets reporting that Oakland was expecting to hear news within certain time frames, only to watch those dates pass without a peep.

Goodell is taking all of us for a ride.

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Rather than suiting up in Silver and Black Sunday, Smith will be at the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots game in Colorado (home base for Fotion’s Clubhouse Gym is in Carbondale, Colo.) with Fotion, per Tafur.

Smith is currently under suspension for his third violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, but his patterns of trouble extended well beyond that.

In Jan. 2012, Smith was arrested for a DUI. Five months later he faced felony assault weapons charges. In Sep. 2013 he was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Seven months later he faced a charge of falsely reporting a bomb in the Los Angeles International Airport.

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The bomb charges were eventually dropped, and his weapons charges reduced to misdemeanors. But Smith was again arrested in Aug. 2015 and charged with a hit and run, DUI (Smith’s third such offense) and vandalism.

Smith had a nine-game suspension in 2014 before his calendar year suspension was issued on Nov. 17, 2015. He applied for reinstatement Oct. 3, which made Dec. 2 the reported final day for Goodell to make a decision.

It is completely understandable that Smith would be frustrated, as most fans are. But given Smith’s track record, it’s also understandable that Goodell would want to be extra cautious with any decision he makes.